


My Mentor and My Friend

by Dewdropzz



Series: In Honour of a Good Man [1]
Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-11 00:47:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4414532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dewdropzz/pseuds/Dewdropzz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'Over forty years ago, I was the professor's apprentice. Or so I liked to call myself back then; I don't believe he ever recognized me as anything official. I was so young, so curious about the world, so eager to learn anything and everything I could from this striking archaeologist in the top hat. I used to follow him around like a puppy dog, and I believe he sincerely enjoyed it. I was someone to keep him company on his puzzle solving journeys; someone to help him out around the house, though I feel like we were rarely home in those days. We were always off on an adventure somewhere, solving the mystery of the tiny town of St. Mystere, or flying around the world in an airship, trying to learn the secrets of an ancient civilization.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Mentor and My Friend

I got an e-mail today, from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It's incredible to think how far technology's come in only a few years. Why, ten years ago that same message would have typically been sent by letter. It would have taken weeks to arrive here in Boston from London, England, and if that had been the case it may have come too late.

The e-mail said that a dear friend of mine wasn't doing well. He was eighty years old, going on eighty-one — Not particularly old for this day and age, where people are living well into their nineties. To a man like Professor Hershel Layton however, eighty-one years was plenty enough. Enough time to make his mark on the world, to explore faraway lands most would never get to explore, and to see incredible things most would never get to see. He had enough time to solve all the puzzles of the universe, to find his place in life, and to help others find theirs. If it hadn't been for Professor Layton, I would not be the man I am today.

Over forty years ago, I was the professor's apprentice. Or so I liked to call myself back then; I don't believe he ever recognized me as anything official. I was so young, so curious about the world, so eager to learn anything and everything I could from this striking archaeologist in the top hat. I used to follow him around like a puppy dog, and I believe he sincerely enjoyed it. I was someone to keep him company on his puzzle solving journeys; someone to help him out around the house, though I feel like we were rarely home in those days. We were always off on an adventure somewhere, solving the mystery of the tiny town of St. Mystere, or flying around the world in an airship, trying to learn the secrets of an ancient civilization.

When I look back now, I was the luckiest kid in the world, getting to experience all the things I did. Solving mysteries with the professor is what got me interested in criminology. I'm now a professor of my field at the University of Boston, but I don't like it when people refer to me as "the professor".

When I was little I wanted with all my heart to grow up exactly like him. Now that I'm older I see that nobody could really do that. There has never been another man quite like Professor Layton, and there never will be. Even after I moved with my parents to America, I would always hold onto the principles he taught me.

"A true gentleman leaves no puzzle unsolved."

"A gentleman must always pay attention to his manners, in every setting."

"It is the duty of every gentleman to help a lady in need."

"A gentleman never underestimates the power of a hot cup of tea."

I can still hear the professor's voice, passing on his wisdom to me. It really doesn't feel like it was that long ago. I traveled with the professor for three years, but the bond we built during that time was strong enough to withstand the test of time.

Professor Layton was like a father to me, and throughout the years he would remain a father figure, even after I had kids of my own. I've made several trips back to London over the years, and the professor has come to America to visit my father and I. The last time he came to see us was shortly after my wife, Lisa, and I had our second child. Michael Hershel Triton is fourteen now, and has an exceptional talent for solving puzzles. My mind always wanders back to this one time... Michael was having trouble with a particularly difficult brain teaser. I told him that he should never give up, because every puzzle has an answer.

"How do you know that?" Michael looked at me like I had just said something bizarre or obscene. I told him that the smartest person in the world had said it first.

When I'm helping Michael with puzzles, all I can think of is how quickly time goes by, and how funny it is that things have come full circle. Only yesterday it was me who was the inquisitive youth, with inquiring eyes full of wonder: "The professor's wide-eyed apprentice."

Now I am the adult, raising three boys of my own. I try to teach them everything my father and the professor taught me, in the hopes that they one day they will become true American gentleman. I know I could never fill the role of Professor Layton, nor could I ever pretend to. But I will strive every day to be like the professor, as a teacher, as a father, and as a friend.

Now I must go back to London, the city where I was born, the city in which I had so many adventures with an old friend whom I will never forget. I don't want to have to say goodbye, so I think I'll just tell the professor thank you. Thank you for everything you've done for me, everything you've taught me, and everything you've made me to be.

For one must always show gratitude to one's teachers.

That is what a gentlemen does.


End file.
